Before you read:
K-pop star T.O.P and DJ Steve Aoki have been selected to join Japanese billionaire Yuzaku Maezawa in humanity’s first civilian trip to the Moon.
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T.O.P and Aoki are among the eight civilians meticulously selected from a pool of about one million applicants.
Joining T.O.P and Aoki are Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam, Czech designer Yemi A.D., American space YouTuber Tim Dodd, American filmmaker Brendan Hall, British filmmaker Karim Iliya and Indian actor Dev D. Joshi. American former professional snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were named as backup crew members.
The civilians will fly around the Moon aboard a resuable rocket from SpaceX, but they will not land on its surface.
T.O.P, whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun, was rumored to join the highly anticipated trip until Friday’s confirmation. Aside from announcing the official crew, the project also released individual interviews showcasing each selected member.
“I applied for dearMoon because as a young boy, I always wanted to go into space. It’s been a dream of mine for decades,” explains Aoki, who plans to DJ during the trip and write a song about it.
dearMoon was first announced in 2018. To prepare for the 2023 trip, Maezawa flew to the ISS last year and spent 12 days filming about life in space.
Maezawa, who is currently valued at $1.9 billion, is thrilled for the crew. “More than anything I think it’s important that each crew feels they are enjoying this trip the most, so I hope we can all just have fun,” he said.
